Sudden...

Peddle Up!

... gusts of sidewind. Scary, what!? :shock:

suzyb

When you forget about the gap in the hedge and suddely get blown further into the middle of the road....yup.

Peddle Up!

suzyb wrote:

When you forget about the gap in the hedge and suddely get blown further into the middle of the road....yup.

Yup indeed. Just back from a ride and that's exactly what happened!

briantrumpet

The worst ones are on the long fast descents that are a dream when it's calm but feel lethal when it's a strong or gusty wind. I tend to play close attention to the forecast wind speeds from the Met Office (especially if they have the red gust warnings) and look at http://www.xcweather.co.uk/ to see what the wind speeds/directions are doing. If it's going to be really gusty I just don't bother with the fast exposed descents. I save them for when it'll be fun.

danowat

Peddle Up! wrote:

... gusts of sidewind. Scary, what!? :shock:

Even scarier when you are on a TT bike, with deep section wheels, on a busy dual carrigeway, in the TT position, jostling with artics!!!

Chris87

especially when your riding in between tram lines and the gust pushes you sideways and your front wheel into the tracks....

straight over the handlebars on a busy street in sheffield!

luckily there wasnt a tram behind.........

slowlanejane

Even scarier when you are on a TT bike, with deep section wheels, on a busy dual carrigeway, in the TT position, jostling with artics!!![/quote]

Why do it? Jeeez, makes me shiver thinking about it. One tiny abberation & you v artic = jammy carriageway.

But then, I AM the biggest scaredy-cat on 2 wheels. Not called SLJ for nothing you know - slow uphill owing to being short & fat, slow downhill cause I'm a chicken! Well, not literally a chicken otherwise I wouldn't be able to hold the handlebars, would I, and come to think of it I probably wouldn't have bougt a bike in the first place ... but you get my drift ... I think ...

golfergmc

Four times on Friday, first time felt like the rear wheel was going completly. Very scary.

danowat

slowlanejane wrote:

Why do it? Jeeez, makes me shiver thinking about it. One tiny abberation & you v artic = jammy carriageway. ...

The same reason people jump out of planes, bungee jump, climb mountains etc etc.

Because you can, and its a challenge, sure, it has its risks, but its not really any more risky that riding down a tight country road.

Fastest courses are generally DC courses, and if you are into TT'ing, than going fast is the whole point!

c0ugars

danowat wrote:

Peddle Up! wrote:

... gusts of sidewind. Scary, what!? :shock:

Even scarier when you are on a TT bike, with deep section wheels, on a busy dual carrigeway, in the TT position, jostling with artics!!!

+1

Happend to me a on training ride on my TT bike while taking a corner i think me heart skipped a beat.

markos1963

danowat wrote:

Peddle Up! wrote:

... gusts of sidewind. Scary, what!? :shock:

Even scarier when you are on a TT bike, with deep section wheels, on a busy dual carrigeway, in the TT position, jostling with artics!!!

Oh yes the A11 is not a nice place to be on a windy day. I don't even bother with a helmet for A11 races. If I go under an artic I don't think a plastic helmet is going to save me!

springtide9

+1

Had a pretty scary return journey on Sunday.

A busy dual carriageway, windy and tipping down with rain.

Natural wind was less of a problem, the biggest issue were the articulated lorries passing at 60mph (and less grip). Having to counter steer every time one of those large steel objects hammered past.

Would have avoided the road if I could, but arranged to meet the wife at a specific and didn't really know the surrounding area that well.

I'm sure this happens to lots of people, and they learn from it.

Chris87

worst case, when your riding in the middle of tram lines and the gust is strong enough to push you across into the rail itself, straight over the handle bars on a busy road :oops: